328 Homeowners Get Trash Notices Late

The 328 homeowners at the Del-Aire Country Club finally know why other Palm Beach County residents are so angry at the Solid Waste Authority -- and now they are pretty steamed themselves.

The notices of new trash disposal assessments that most county residents received in July did not get to Del-Aire residents until well after the authority`s July 31 public hearing, said Joseph Bowman, president of its property owner`s association.

In a letter to the authority received on Wednesday, Bowman said the ``levy is not legal for we did not have this opportunity to avail ourselves of the public hearing process. All of our 328 homeowners strenuously object to this levy and demand that it be abrogated.``

Charles Maccarrone, budget director for the authority, said all the notices went out at the same time, and he did not know why property owners at Del- Aire, west of Delray Beach, would have received theirs late.

``It`s either the Post Office or something in their organization,`` Maccarrone said.

The increased disposal fees will appear on residential property tax bills for the first time this year. The fees are required to pay off more than $400 million the authority has borrowed.

About 3,000 people packed the July public hearing in the gym at John I. Leonard High School. The assessments were a top news story at the time.

But Bowman said Del-Aire residents had no reason to suspect they would be affected.

``The people might have noticed (the news stories). People don`t take action based on what they read in the newspaper,`` Bowman said. ``Not having the notices, they would not have had any reason to blindly go and agree with these people (at the public hearing).``